While searching for potential garden additions of Pulmonaria and Tall Garden Phlox this past year I found many breeders claiming powdery mildew resistance for their plants. An internet search for "Powdery Mildew Resistance" yields a variety of results for studies on Phlox, Pulmonaria, Pumpkins and Squash, etc. While most studies report varying degrees of resistance to Powdery Mildew (excellent, fair, poor, etc.) I think a simple check box in our database, as follows, could be helpful. What do you all think?

Resistances
-Powdery Mildew

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletch...
http://www.chicagobotanic.org/...
http://extension.unh.edu/resou...
http://hortsci.ashspublication...
https://www.chicagobotanic.org...

I would find that useful for lots of plants. I hate that ugly gray look in late summer and would certainly place powdery mildew resistance high on my criteria list for squash, monarda, etc.

I like this idea! This would also apply to certain Crepe Myrtle cultivars. Let's do it!

I like this idea too!

Good call. It's added!

Thank you Evan for suggesting it & thank you Dave for implementing it.

Thanks Dave.

Thanks Evan!

what does it actually mean if a plant is "mildew resistant" ? Does it tend to not GET mildewed, or does it just not succumb to the mildew?

I would suppose it's the former because the plants I've seen with powdery mildew may have an unsightly appearance for a while, but they don't seem to suffer lasting damage. My experience is mainly with roses, however, so I'm not sure of the effects powdery mildew has on other plants.

Thanks, Zuzu -- my main concern is for squash and cucumber plants; I did find an article from the Univ. of New Hampshire extension service at this site http://extension.unh.edu/resou... -- in part, it states:

"All pumpkins and squash will develop powdery mildew symptoms if weather conditions favor the fungus.
Resistant or tolerant varieties develop symptoms more slowly and maintain leaf coverage later in the
season."

They also list some varieties of pumpkin and squash that are resistant.

Interesting! Thanks, Evan, for bring this up

I think the former as well. For some food crops low resistance can result in lower yields or damaged fruit. Per UC IPM Online

...Severely infected plants may have reduced yields, shortened production times, and fruit that has little flavor.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/QT/...

Anecdotally my Lungwort (Pulmonaria saccharata 'Milky Way') plants, which have low or no Mildew resistance, have struggled for several years. Bethlehem Sage (Pulmonaria 'Spilled Milk') , with good mildew resistance, have multiplied well.

dave said:Good call. It's added!

@dave - can I search for plants resistant to powdery mildew?
if so, how?

Yes through the "Search by type" engine.

Go to the plants database homepage, then click on "Search by type" in the lefthand bar. Then you'll see Powdery Mildew as an option under Resistances.

Thank you!